Surgical dressing



March 15, 1960 H. GANZ ETAL 2,928,389

SURGICAL DRESSING Filed April so, 1958 FIG. I

30 3/ 32 3 INVENTORS, @FHWMJ HENRY GANZ,

JAMES D- L/ERMAN BY j/MK/M ATTORNEY SURGICAL DRESSING Henry Ganz, West Engiewood, and James D. Lierman, Mountainside, N.J., assignors to Johnson & Johnson, a eorpnration of New Jersey Application April 30, 1958, Serial No. 732,055

7 Claims. (Cl. 128156) This invention relates to surgical dressings and more particularly to soft absorbent pads. The present application is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial No. 455,163, filed September 10, 1954, which was a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 424,- 800, filed April 22, 1954, now abandoned.

Absorbent pads for use as surgical dressings are generally made of gauze, scrim, tobacco cloth, or similar porous or loosely woven or nonwoven fabric. Such fabrics are characterized by the fact that individual strands or fibers thereof are held rather loosely in the fabric tending upon the least provocation to separate out as by fraying, particularly along the marginal edges thereof. In the absence of means for anchoring the strands or fibers in the fabric or where the fabric edges are exposed, the tendency for the pad fabric to fray out is augmented by the manufacturing processes, and when such fraying does occur, the loose strands which result produce a very untidy appearance.

In order to give the pad a softer feel and to improve its absorbent capacity a suitable absorbent filler material, such as absorbent cotton or rayon fibers, is enclosed within the gauze. These fibers, being nonwoven, give a softness or body to the pad that cannot be obtained by the folded gauze alone. However, care must be taken to completely enclose this bulk material so that no random fibers will escape and embed themselves in the wound or adhere to the scab when the pad is being used. In accordance with the present invention, this is done, by superimposing on top of the cotton or rayon fibers a sheet ofhighly absorbent material, such as cellulose wadding or paper, to form a sandwich in which the cotton or rayon fibers are restrained between the gauze on the one side and the absorbent cellulose sheet on the other. The edges of the gauze are folded over to prevent separation of the paper from the layer of absorbent fibers, to prevent the escape of random fibers at the edge from between the absorbent sheet and gauze, and to avoid any loose threads or strands being on the edge of the pad where they might come loose from the pad.-

the inner layer is formed of carded absorbent cotton or rayon fibers as described.

The cellulose sheet material, weight for weight, gives better absorption than the gauze, probably due to its It is also appreciably less expensive wicking action. than the gauze so that a substantial economic advantage is obtained besides improving the over-all efi'iciency of the pad. In order to further improve the economic advantage, the portion of the gauze folded back upon itself both along the side edges and the ends is relatively States Patent pad but rather angle inwardly toward its center.

'ice small. This results in substantial saving of the gauze used.

It is indeed surprising that the whole sponge or pad structure is firmly held together by the narrow fold of gauze along the edge and the single fold of the pad onto itself. This may be due in large part to the tendency of the gauze to cling to the cellulose sheet material after being pressed thereon. However, whatever the cause, the resulting sponge maintains its structure during use, is free from loose threads or fibers and, besides having a substantially improved absorptive capacity, is less expensive to manufacture than the heretofore used gauze pads.

According to the preferred practice of the present invention, the marginal portions of thepad material are folded back upon themselves in a way to produce but a single folded edge along the entire periphery of the pad. Thus, where the pad is to have straight lateral edges, lateral marginal portions of the sheet material of which the pad is to be made are folded back upon themselves, so as to present one fold along each side edge of the pad. The ends of the material, now folded, are in turn folded back upon the marginal portions previously folded. In the preferred practice, this folding operation is effected in such a way that the end portions of its folds previously made do not coincide with the lateral edges of the When the folded back portions of such a pad are anchored down or held in place, the ends thereof in the preferred embodiment of the invention will have a rounded configuration.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description read in con-- Fig. 2 is a plan view of the pad shown in Fig. l in an initial stage of its construction;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the pad of Fig. 2 folded overonce; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 1ii-1il of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the pad has an outer layer 30 of gauze or equivalent, an adjacent layer 31 of absorbent cotton or equivalent to provide bulk and, next to that, a layer 32 of absorbent cellulose wadding in sheet form, such as an absorbent cellulose paper. It has infolded marginal portions 33 at both its lateral edges and in-folded marginal portions 34 at both its ends, i.e., in the initial stage of its construction as shown in Fig. 2. These folded marginal portions both on the edges and the ends are relatively narrow and have a width substan-' tially less than a quarter of the width of the gauze after folding. The end portions 34 are folded along curved lines 34a whose extremities 33a, which are continuations of the lateral edge folds, angle inwardly within the confines of such lateral edge folds. These end marginal portions with angled-in extremities are anchored or held in position by folding the pad upon itself along a center line a-a to the stage of construction shown in Fig. 3 wherein all of the in-folded marginal portions are adjacent one to the other and so that the outer surfaces of the bandage pad are entirely devoid of marginal in-folds. If desired, the bandage pad can be completed by folding it upon itself once again along the line b-b (Fig. 3). The pad in its completed stage is shown in Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention shown for purpose of illustration, pad bulk is provided by a sliver of cotton 31 suitably processed to impart to it desired qualities of absorbency.

Where cotton is used to supply bulk to the pad, the

. sliver 31; thereof preferably is 'short, flat and of drawn cotton of the same general 3... width and length as the pad when finished. Dimensionally, the other bulk fibrous materials would, if used, be the same regardless of their ther. hara te stics- Thefill ng ma ni L s wrapp d n. a piece of gauze 30 generally rectangular or square in,

shapeand of, a size suchthat when the fillingis centrally located onthe gauze, with. both their lateral edges parallel, the marginal edges of the gauze .that extendjbeyond.

the filling are of substantially the same widthithroughout. The sheet of cellulosewadding is'. placed on top offthe cottonjor other filler. Thecotton. Qrother bulk fibers 31 maybe laid on cellulose paper 32,by carding, and

the gauze, 30then wrapped soas to. cover the bulk fibers.

The gauze is folded back upon itself along parallel. lines to provide-two marginalflaps 33 which with the.

front of the gauze 30 forms a sheaf for the cotton. The widthof the folded side flaps generally. is only. aboutifis of the Width, of thesheaf as illustrated. in the, drawings, The gauze sheaf comprising the front ofthe gauze 30;

and fiaps 33 is. folded back, approximately. at the ends ofthe filling material 31, toproduce marginal end flaps 34. The. absorbent sheet 32, which extends. beyond the to encase the film-of nonwoven carded absorbent fibers and the cellulose wadding in sheet form within the gauzelO like material with relatively narrow. marginal portions a't ends of the tiller 31, is .folded with the, marginal end flaps 34 as illustrated in Fig.4. These marginal end flaps, although relatively narrow, generally have a width somewhat wider than that of the side flaps, their width.

as illustrated in' the embodiment shownir the drawings being about twice, the width of the side flaps. 33. These flaps lie against the marginal flaps previously folded down. In folding the end flaps34, care should'b'etaken that the end portions 33a, which are continuations of the edge folds of the side flaps 33, are caused not, to lie along the edge of the folds of the side flaps but rather,

to angle inwardly from these edgefolds so that every;

point along the edge of the gauze is. well. within the confines of all edges of the pad.

The result of, this construction is such that whenfthe pad is folded over on itself there will be but a single' neat fold all along the periphery'of the pad and all raw edges of the gauze and the cotton which gives the pad .bulk will be confined beneath thepad and within. this periphery. Accordingly, there can b e no dangfl that frayed out portions of the gauze or, loose fibers will come in contact with a wound or laceration on which the bandage is used.

A surgical dressing or absorbent pad of the. type described has great absorbency for its bulk, a neat appearance, and is quite devoid of all raw gauzeedges adjacent V its periphery so that there is no danger that frayed-out or loose fibers can come in contact with a woundion which the bandage is used.

both its sides and ends, the marginal portions. having a width substantially less than a quarter of the width of said gauze-like material after folding and the:unit thus formed being folded again upon itself to present all of the in-folded marginal portions between the folded layers of material.

4. A surgical dressing comprising a layer of gauze-like material, a film layer of nonwoven carded absorbent fibersar d a layer of absorbent cellulose paper, the edges.

of said gauze-like material'and atleast two opposed edges of said cellulose paper extending beyond the edges of said film layer of. nonwoven carded absorbent fibers, said extending edges vbeing in-folded to encase the'film ofnon woven carded, absorbent fibers. with relatively narrow marginal portions at bothits sides. and ends, the marginal portions having awiclth substantially less than a quarter of the width of-said gauze-like material after folding and the uhit thusformedibeing folded again upon itself to present, all of thein-foldedmarginal portions between the folded layersof material.

5'. A surgical dressingv comprising an absorbent pad whichfincludesvan, outer layeroffabsorbent gauze-like material of generally rectangular shape and an inner,

layer "of absorbent cellulosepaper. in which the. opposite lateral edge-. portions of, said. gauze-like material i are folded back upon themselves. along parallel fold lines. to. providepon the; same faeeof thematerial, narrow marginal, side; flaps of, substantially, constant width through-:

out their length, a portion including corresponding end portions of each. of: said marginal side flaps folded back along. a fold line generallytransverse to said parallel fold linesto provide a, narrow transverse marginal end flap with said endportions. of; themarginal side flaps in en-. gagement with underlyirigportions of said marginal side flaps, the fold lines at the opposite ends of the trans verse end flap and Whichare c ntinuatiQns of the paral-. lel fold linesof the, marginal side flaps-being located.

along lines angling; inwardly from saidparallel fold lines thereby to, present but 'a single fold along the said lateral The pad may be used either inthe form shown Fig. i

3 or in the formshown in Fig. 1, The pads are generally sold in the form of Fig. l; however,'if a larger pad is desired, the user may then open it up into the form of Fig; 3. In, either form, however, there is no danger of frayed-out or loose fibers.

The invention has been illustrated in connection with one embodiment only but'many modifications thereof are included within'its' spirit. It is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim;

1. A surgical dressing comprising a layer of gauze-like material backed by alayer of absorbent cellulose wadding in sheet form, the edges of said gauze-like material being in-folded; with relatively narrow marginal portions and the unit thus formed being folded upon, itselfto, present all of the in-folded margin portions between the folded.

1 layers of material.

2. A surgical dressing comprising a layer of gauze-like material, a film layer of absorbentcotton and a'layer of absorbent cellulose wadding in sheet form, the edges of said gauze-like material being in-folded to encase; the film of cotton and the cellulose wadding in sheet form withinthe gauze with relatively narrow marginal portions and end edges of said pad, the gauze-like.material'being in-foldedonto; itself whereby the marginal endflaps are superimposed arid the absorbent cellulose paper com pletely covered by; the gauze-like material.

6. Asurgieal dressing comprising-an absorbent pad of absorbent material of generally rectangular shape cornprisingian-ou-ter layer of gauze like material, an inner layerof absorbent cellulose; paperand an intermediate yer; o c e abso b n fi e n w h pp l teral: ed e Por ion 1 sa d; gauzei t r are folded,

b ck. pont msc v s long p a lel o in to P on .the same; face of; the-material, narrow marginal side flaps- .of substantially constant width throughout their length, aportion including corresponding end portions of each of said marginal side fiaps folded back along a fold line'gene'r'ally transverse to said parallel fold lines to provide a'narrow transverse marginal end flap with said end portions of the marginal side flaps, the width of said end flaps and side flaps being substantially less than about one quarter the distance between the fold lines of said marginal portions, the fold-lines at the opposite ends of the transverse end flap andzwhich are continuations of the.

parallel fold lines ofthe-marginal'side flaps, being located along lines angling inwardly fro'rn said parallel fo d lines, thereby to'present but a single fold along the said lateral and; end edges of said pad, the gauze-like material being in-folde'd onto itself whereby the marginal end flaps are superimposed and the absorbent cellulose paper com pletely covered by the gauze-like material.

7. A soft, absorbent surgical dressing comprising an outer covering of gauze-like material, a relatively thin layer of loose carded absorbent cellulose fibers next to said gauze-like material to provide a softness to said dressing and an inner relatively thin layer of absorbent cellulose wadding in sheet form, the amount of said cellulose sheet wadding being below that which would give a stifi feel to said dressing, the edges of said gauze-like material being in-folded to encase the film of carded absorbent fibers and the cellulose sheet wadding within the gauze-like material with relatively narrow marginal portions at both its sides and ends, the marginal portions having a width substantially less than a quarter of the width of said gauze-like material after folding and the unit thus ing adhesives and primarily through the interclinging nature of the materials from which it is constructed and the manner in which it is folded.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Morgan Oct. 11, 1949 Gallagher Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE QR TIFICATE 0F GORRECTIUN Patent N09 2 928 389 It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below. Q

Column .23 line 42 for MO -10 read me 4 4 o Signed and sealed this 18th day of October 19600 SEAL) Attest: KARL Ho AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

